Jan. 14, 2024

We pick up at Matthew 16:21 where Jesus begins to reveal the full extent of His mission. And, we find that to follow Him we must die to self, take up our cross and follow Him.

Matthew Lesson 29 Study Questions

1.    He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things…and be killed: This must have come as quite a shock to His disciples. After fully understanding that Jesus was the Messiah, the last thing they expected was the Messiah would _______ many things and be _______.

2.    And be raised the third day: The disciples were probably so ________ that Jesus said He would be killed in Jerusalem that these words didn’t _____ in. Later, an angel reminded them of these words (Luke 24:6-8).

3.    Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You! At this moment Peter had the remarkable _________ to rebuke Jesus. 

4.    Get behind Me, Satan! This was a strong rebuke from Jesus, yet entirely appropriate. Though a moment before, Peter spoke as a messenger of ____, he then spoke as a messenger of ______. 

5.    You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men: Jesus exposed how Peter came into this satanic way of thinking. He didn’t make a deliberate choice to ______ God and embrace Satan; he simply let his mind settle on the things of ____ instead of the things of ___, and _____ took advantage of it.

6.    Said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me”: This was a word spoken to the disciples of Jesus; to those who genuinely wanted to _______ (come after) Him.

7.    Deny himself, and take up his cross: Jesus made deny himself equal with take up his cross. The two express the ______ idea. The cross wasn’t about self-promotion or self-affirmation. The person carrying a cross knew they couldn’t _______ themselves.

8.    Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it: We must follow Jesus this way, because it is the only way that we will ever find _____. It sounds strange to say, “You will never live until you first walk to your _____ with Jesus,” but that is the idea. You can’t gain resurrection life without _____ first.

9.    He was transfigured before them: The word transfigured speaks of a transformation, not merely a change in outward ___________. The effect was extremely striking; Jesus became so bright in appearance that He was even __________ to look at (like the sun).

10.    Moses and Elijah: It is fair to think that these two particular persons from the Old Testament appeared because they represent the ____ (Moses) and the _______ (Elijah). The sum of Old Testament revelation came to meet with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration.

11.    This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him! The Father, from heaven, rebuked Peter’s attempt to put Jesus on an equal footing with Moses and Elijah – and while he was still speaking. It was important to interrupt Peter, so that all would know that Jesus is _______ and the beloved Son – He deserves our ________ attention, so Hear Him!

12.    Hear Him! If we should listen to anyone, we should ______ to Jesus. One would think that a voice from heaven would say, “Listen to me!” But the Father said, “Hear Him!” Everything points us to _______.